{"id":137854,"date":"2023-10-23T15:55:10","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T22:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=137854"},"modified":"2023-10-23T15:55:10","modified_gmt":"2023-10-23T22:55:10","slug":"the-maldives-new-leader-wants-indian-troops-to-leave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2023\/10\/23\/the-maldives-new-leader-wants-indian-troops-to-leave\/","title":{"rendered":"The Maldives\u2019 new leader wants Indian troops to leave"},"content":{"rendered":"

CNN<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Oct 23 (CNN) \u2013 We don\u2019t want any foreign military boots on Maldivian soil\u2026 I promised this to the people of the Maldives and I will live up to my promise from day one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Mohamed Muizzu, who won the Maldives presidential election last month, is wasting no time in asking India to get its troops out of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president-elect, who is due to be sworn in later in November, told the BBC in an exclusive interview that he met the Indian ambassador a few days after his victory and told him very clearly that every single Indian military personnel here should be removed\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Maldives has long been under India\u2019s sphere of influence and Mr Muizzu\u2019s demand is likely to trigger diplomatic tensions between Mal\u00e9 and Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, when Mr Muizzu won the Maldives presidential poll, that was seen as a setback for India \u2013 especially as his opponent, the incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih \u2013 had drawn his country closer to Delhi since taking over in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The alliance backing Mr Muizzu portrayed this relationship \u2013 strengthened by Mr Solih\u2019s India-first policy \u2013 as a threat to the Maldives\u2019 sovereignty and security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Muizzu\u2019s alliance favours closer ties with China, which has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the Maldives in the form of loans and grants for infrastructure and development projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But India, which wants a foothold in the strategically located islands to monitor a key part of the Indian Ocean, has also provided about $2bn in development assistance to the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If its troops are forced to leave, it will be a blow for Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a furore over gifts\u201d that Delhi gave the Maldives \u2013 two helicopters received in 2010 and 2013 and a small aircraft in 2020 \u2013 has given the India out\u201d campaign a huge boost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delhi said the craft were to be used for search and rescue missions and medical evacuations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in 2021, the Maldivian defence force said about 75 Indian military personnel were based in the country to operate and maintain the Indian aircrafts. This fuelled suspicion and anger as many felt the reconnaissance aircraft were being used as an excuse to put Indian boots on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Muizzu also says that the presence of these troops could put the Maldives at risk \u2013 especially as tensions between India and China escalate along their Himalayan border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maldives is too small to get entangled with this global power struggle. We will not get entangled into this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to the BBC before the presidential poll, the outgoing president Mr Solih said fears about the presence of Indian troops were exaggerated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are no militarily active overseas personnel stationed in the Maldives. Indian personnel currently present in the country are under the operational command of the Maldives National Defence Force,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s not just the aircrafts. Mr Muizzu said he wanted to review all the agreements the Maldives has signed with India in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t know what\u2019s in there. Even in Parliament, some of the MPs during the debates said that they didn\u2019t know what\u2019s in there. I am sure we will find it out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon after his victory, observers noted that the Chinese ambassador in Mal\u00e9 was quick to congratulate Mr Muizzu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinese President Xi Jinping also weighed in, saying he attached great importance to the development of bilateral relations and stands ready to work with President-elect Muizzu to carry forward the traditional friendship, deepen practical cooperation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Muizzu has also spoken highly of Chinese infrastructure projects in the Maldives, saying the investments had transformed Mal\u00e9 city and brought benefits to its residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he has denied being a pro-China\u201d candidate as opposed to the pro-India\u201d Mr Solih.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am a pro-Maldives person. For me, Maldives comes first, our independence comes first\u201d he said. I am not pro or against any country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, however, his opposition alliance includes the party of former president Abdulla Yameen who was instrumental in moving the Maldives closer to China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When India and Western lenders were not willing to offer loans to Yameen\u2019s administration due to allegations of human rights violations, Yameen \u2013 who is currently serving a 11-year prison sentence for corruption \u2013 turned to Beijing who offered him the money without any conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He then joined President Xi\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative \u2013 which aims to build road, rail and sea links between China and the rest of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Muizzu was seen as a proxy of Yameen \u2013 who was barred from contesting the election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon after he won the election Mr Muizzu asked the current administration to move Yameen from a high-security prison to house arrest in the capital Male.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But given Yameen\u2019s uneasy and tense relationship with Delhi, it could well be a struggle for Mr Muizzu\u2019s new alliance to balance ties with India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Muizzu sounds keen to emerge out of the shadows of Yameen and is all set to charter a new path both domestically and in the country\u2019s foreign affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given his decisive victory he may not face much resistance internally, at least in the initial stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He sounds determined to take the Maldives out of India\u2019s orbit but convincing Delhi to withdraw its troops may be his first big challenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CNN Oct 23 (CNN) \u2013 We don\u2019t want any foreign military boots on Maldivian soil\u2026 I promised this to the people of the Maldives and I will live up to my promise from day one.\u201d Dr Mohamed Muizzu, who won the Maldives presidential election last month, is wasting no time in asking India to get […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137854\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}